AmCham Bulgaria

A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country.

Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments.

The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.

“A strong economic recovery has taken hold as Bulgaria is poised to take over the EU presidency. The challenge facing policymakers is to translate this recovery into durable and inclusive convergence of people’s incomes toward levels prevailing in the richer EU partners. This will require continued action on many fronts, notably increasing the efficiency of public institutions at all levels; remedying weaknesses in education, healthcare, and labor markets; and further strengthening the financial stability framework. Progress on all these fronts will ultimately help deliver the better, more rules-based governance toward which many in government and society have been working tirelessly in collaboration with EU partners and institutions.”